Preparation of Nano-Cu-Fe Composite Metal Oxides via a Mechanical Grinding Method and Its Catalytic Performance for the Thermal Decomposition of Ammonium Perchlorate

ABSTRACT

In this article, a series of nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides (nano CuO/Fe₂O₃), with different molar ratios of CuO/Fe₂O₃ (1:2, 1:1, 1:0.5, 1:0.25), were prepared in large-scale by mechanical grinding. The microstructures, surface elements and morphologies of samples are analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The catalytic effects of nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides on the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) were investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) techniques. The results show that nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides with the molar ratio of CuO/Fe₂O₃ = 1:2 have the best catalytic effect for AP thermal decomposition as compared to the other nano-Cu-Fe composite metal oxides, the single nano CuO, and nano Fe₂O₃. Also, the results show that the decomposition temperature of AP has fallen from 441.3°C to 355.3°C, whereas the decomposition heat has risen from 941 to 1749 J/g, which supports the existence of a synergistic effect between CuO and Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles.

KEYWORDS:

• Nanocomposite metal oxides
• mechanical grinding
• ammonium perchlorate
• thermal decomposition
• synergistic effect

Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21805139 and 51606102), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 30918011312 and 30919011404), Basic Product Innovation Technology Research Project of Explosives, Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Special Energy Materials (Nanjing University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, China (No. 2019SEM01), Youth Scientific and Technological Innovation Project (No. QKCZ201713) and Nanjing University of Science and Technology (Large-scale Instrument and Equipment Open Fund).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21805139,51606102];the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [30918011312,30919011404];Youth Scientific and Technological Innovation Project [QKCZ201713];Basic Product Innovation Technology Research Project of Explosives;Nanjing University of Science and Technology (Large-scale Instrument and Equipment Open Fund);Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Special Energy Materials (Nanjing University of Science and Technology), Ministry of Education, China [2019SEM01].